Institutional core facilities: prerequisite for breakthroughs in the life sciences: Core facilities play an increasingly important role in biomedical research by providing scientists access to sophisticated technology and expertise

Abstract

Core facilities have become an important resource in biomedical research, providing scientists with access to sophisticated instrumentation and expertise. To enable scientists to perform ever more complex and difficult experiments, core facilities not only need to constantly upgrade technology and expertise, but also cooperate and pool their assets.

Figure 1. Core facility operational models range from “user laboratories” to “all‐inclusive services”

Both comprise equipment and technology experts and provide training, perform standard workflows and in most cases implement or develop new technologies. In the case of “all‐inclusive services”, the researchers provide their sample to the core facility and receive the results. The core facility technology experts perform the experiments on the core facility's equipment and may even analyse the data. In the case of “user laboratories”, the researchers come to use the core facility's equipment on their own after they have been trained and advised by the core facility's technology experts.

Figure 2. To fulfil their mission of enabling cutting‐edge research, core facilities have to join forces with other core facilities, research groups, institute administration, as well as building alliances across institutes

Teamwork between core facilities is required to combine technologies and applications into new cross‐facility workflows. Technology development efforts are usually most effective when a research group and a core facility engage in a joint project. Building alliances across institutes is extremely valuable for exchanging knowledge and expertise and working on common strategies for training, technology scouting, etc.